DxD: Age of Silence
by Subham Roy
Summary: Reality is warped as two planes of existences come in direct conflict, and an evil of ancient times resurfaces, drawing out one of the most bloody conflicts that either realm has known. Is it an absolution of will, or the origin of power for absolute authority?


Chapter 1

The morning began as the alarm clock blared out it's usual 'brring' prompting me out of sleep. The lilting smell of freshly prepared breakfast drifted into my room, that of bread with melted cheese and omlette. This routine of food, sleep, and curriculum has followed me as long as I can remember, its rigour instilling a sense of discipline that every young student, such as myself, yearned for.

A shower, change and breakfast later, I bade my parents goodbye as I made my way towards school. One could call my family rather lack lustre at that, the school non descript, but all things, especially my pass out grades, considered, one could say that the circumstances weren't too grim, and an intelligent one could make the most of the free time for preparing for grad exams. And that's what I usually do.

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"Well, the period is over, students. You may all leave."

The day blended into a collage of ideas, aesthetics and monotony, books packed and unpacked again, tiffin and classes. The slow drizzle, overcast clouds, and the cold breeze yielded a sense of tireless melancholy, directed at the general nature of things, and finally, resignation at the utter hopelessness of the human condition. The everlasting drama that churned out one crime after another, meaningless violence over pointless issues, an orgy of the blackest perversity. A penchant for violence and a general apathy towards it made a dangerous combination... and the rain went on pattering on the school roof.

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"Ah darn it all!"

Masses of raincoats, umbrellas and soaking furballs milled across the pavements onto cafes and bars, and bumping into one another wasn't uncommon. Rain beat on my wet shoulders, hair stuck onto my eyes as I dashed along the pavements, and turning around a deserted parking lot, finally found an empty shed outside a decrepit looking drinking den. Sober men seldom walked these parts, and drunks frequented other, more 'enlightened' areas, leaving this sham of a pub in disrepair. The cold wind blew onto me, the chill causing a shiver and a mesmerising sense of pleasure to flow through me at the morbid turn to an otherwise sunny day.

The door opened behind me, a warm breeze blowing out along with the lone occupant of the dimly lit cavern. A tall portly man in a grey overcoat emerged, his face covered with a tipping hat that threatened to fall off at any moment. The man coughed into his hands twice, before slamming the door shut. I stood silently as he jangled the keys to the den in front of his face, trying to discern which out of the mass of keys that hung from the chain. A faint yellow bulb was the only source of light and warmth in this forsaken little den, and the equally unseemly man lending a setting that made me regret ever coming here to begin with.

"Eh, still here? And I thought all ya' crows were out huntin' dat boya. Got yer arses handed to ya' did ye?"

The low growl that came along with that illegible garble of words broke me out of my trance, and made me look up to him. Crows, what does he mean crows? Me!? It was then that a peal of thunder cut across the dark skies, and my retort stuck in my mouth.

It was for the first time that I saw what the world had become during my brief visit to this ruined establishment. Deep purple was the sky, water the color of blood collected in puddles across the street. The gas lights along the deserted pavements flickered on and out, and I felt a dread so profound that all my being threatened to plunge into a mired absence of sanity.

Wha! What's... God! I raced out in the rain, out onto the pavement. My eyes must have failed me, and everything else, it's so absurd! A distant church gong tolled, it's dull bass reverberating through my head, and through my eyes I saw the dead and decaying earth, buildings crumbling atop each other, and lightning shedding the sky over and over. I started running frantically on the street, the burning buildings collapsing on to the streets in desecrated remains, feet splashing on pools of blood, stumbling, caring not for any possibility of rescue, only to run.. to dash away fast as I could from the hell that the city has become. I have lost my head, no, I must someone, anyone, to make sense of this godless nightmare. Lightning cut across in bright arcs, illuminating the dark streets, showing me glimpses of a sick man's morbid nightmare the more I tried to escape from it. Nonsense! Utter nonsense! What the hell is going on!

Fatigue overtook me early enough. My breath taken away, my body collapsed onto the sidewalk, bloodied, and heaving in pain. A faint stench of blood and decay hung thick on the air, visions of a bloodied town massacred of people fleeting intermittently. I gave up hope. It's the end.

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*DONG DONG DONG*

The giant bell tolled incessantly, a gong of despair, a warning to any who heard, the news of the coming ominous. The sun, blotted out by a red planetoid, overlooked the trials of the man for whom all of it came to pass. Destiny rewritten, lives slaughtered, and a plane, elusive and mired in myth wrung out onto the land of the living.

He hung, a picture of serenity, shackled and strung onto the walls of the altar. A noble man, an ambitious warrior, but a corrupt soul. Bloodied eyes, torn and blinded glanced out of the church, through the painted windows, towards the distant bloody moon. Lips parted.

"Where are you? I'm waiting. I've been waiting.."

There he stood, on the shores of a distant world, his trusty sword on his hip, his stallion, waiting. The red globe now covers the sky, reflecting a manic grin etched across the broken surface. They stand in trial. For he is now, to be prepared.

"Brother..."

The sound of chains and dragging feet came from the doorway. Someone, something emerged, and proceeded towards the man on the altar.

"Yes, we know, exalted one. We have witnessed it, your bravery, kinship, and benevolence, and have stood on guard when you cried out in your demise. We have shown you who you are, and who you can become. Those people you serve have thrown you to the hounds in their haste to flee. You who were king, are now filth. And yet, we know who you are. Do you, know, what we know, human?"

"Brother.. you.. killed them.."

"Yes. And I would more, slaughter incessantly only to prove how weak and fleeting your ego and power can be. Life to us is but insignificant, a mere blip, an experimental setup, often to prove a point, to drive home a message, to test a theory, things like that.. You mustn't get worked up."

His head hung low. His glory days were behind him, his convictions were thoroughly destroyed by the man, no, being, he dared call brother. Everything..

But it also showed him the truth he had refused to see. Childish bravery, chivalry, good for nothing gestures were wasted on those who meant nothing more or less than the corpses littering the wayside. Kingdoms and capitals would crumble to dust when faced with such invincible might, and lead all you may, only to ruin that which fueled and sated your innermost desires... It was all pointless.

Or.. no.

"I.. am ready."

Glistening red beams of light burned into his charred but once handsome face, and the muscles on his chest spasmed and ripped open the organs to the elements. Blood poured out of the hollow, his muscles shriveling, bones turning to dust inside him. Pain tore through him, an inhuman shriek muffled by blood gargled up. He was ripped apart over and over again, the dying pain only aiding to keep his nerves alert and not pass out, to feel more, until a final spam wracked through him, putting an end to his suffering, for ever.

The crimson light dimmed, and a body emerged from the shadows.

"Is it done?"

"Yes, Genesis. Now, we wait.. we have waited for a millennium since that mighty Rome collapsed, turning the flow of events, and today was the culmination of it all. He has failed, in life and in death, and now, he will join us."

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The distant bell stopped. It was the only respite I felt, everything else numbed in contrast to the harrowing pain in my abdomen, from the absence of that which was never meant to exist. All for her, for I made the mistake to fall in love.

"If you must blame, blame the God who gave you that sacred gear..."

Oh, blame I will, but not one whom I never once spared a thought for. I've always loved women, sought after them, my longing and my perversity is what I am to blame. "me", not "Him".

There she stood, her white skirt fluttering in the wind. She smiled happily, her eyes delighted and the ice cream I bought for her. She looked at me with admiration, and I, with love..

"Will you die for me?"

The crimson sky faded into the rainy gloom of a new morning, the night faded into the oblivion of my end.

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Author's notes: As you've understood, I'll be referencing two characters by their own POVs, my OC and Issei. All others follow standard references. Hope you like it. Leave a review to tell me your first impressions of this story..


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